Blank for shovels



(No Mode-1.)

H. M. MYERS.

BLANK FOR SHOVBLS. I No. 340,603. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

wmmssm: INVENTORY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY H. MYERS, OF BEAVER FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA.

BLANK FOR SHOVELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,603 dated April 27, 1886.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY M. MYERs, of Beaver Falls, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement-to wit, a new article of manufacture-a Blank for the Making of Shovels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

In the manufacture of shovels, particularly that class known to the trade as plainback shovels," it has been the practice to take a bar of iron or steel and cut it into the ordinary form for a shovel-blank,or when made of caststeel to cast the blank, which blanks are heated, then plated under the hammer or rolled to the desired width, length, and thickness for the purpose of forming the shovel-blade and handle-straps, which are trimmed by the shearing process to the desired contour.

The ordinary form of blanks have always been in their width much narrower than the width of theshovel-bl ade when platedor rolled, so that in the plating or rolling of the blank it had to be drawn or forged out lengthwise and laterally, which operation had a tendency to draw the fiber or particles of the iron or steel asunder, thereby weakening the shovclblade, which is particularly the case when made of iron or what is known to the trade as Bessemer steel, hence it is common to find shovels, when thus constructed, cracked or split lengthwise of the shovel-blade after hav' ing been subjected to strain in their use.

It is a wcllestablished fact that the fiber of the iron or the polarity of the axis of particles of the steel in the working of the iron or steel in the forging or rolling process is always in line with the angle of force applied to the blank.

The object of my invention is to furnish the trade with a blank for the manufacture of shovels, scoops, and spades of such construction that it may be reduced to the desired length and thickness for the formation of the shovel-blade and the handlestraps by the rolling process, so that the fiber of the iron or the longitudinal axis of the particles of steel will always be lengthwise of the shovel-blade and handle-straps, and not drawn or forced asunder laterally, thereby giving strength to the shovel-blade and handlestraps,and diminishing the cost in the manufacture of shovels.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention is most nearly connected to make and use it, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 represents in perspective a bar of iron or steel. Fig. 2 represents in perspective a blank for the manufacture of a shovel-blade and its handle-straps when out from the bar shown in Fig. 1.

In the making of my new article of n1anufacture I roll a billet of iron or steel into abar of the form shown in Fig. 1, which should be of the requisite width and thickness for forming the blank for the shovel-blade and handle straps, so that said bar maybe cut into a series of blanksof the form shownin Fig.2, whereby said blanks are made without loss of material, excepting that portion of the bar marked A, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, which blank is cut from the bar bya suitable cutting-machine, the construction of which is left to the skill of those familiar with the construction of metal-cutting machinery.

The blank shown in Fig. 2 from the point D to the point C is within a fraction of an inch equal to the width of the shovel-blade when plated or rolled down to the desired thickness, and the length of the arm E corresponds to the length desired for the handlestraps.

In the plating or rolling process the metal of the blank is drawn out in the direction indicated by the arm marked E.

The essential feature and novelty of my new article of manufacture consists in having that portion of the blank marked F from the point Dto the point 0 about equal to the width of the shovel-blade, which is new in the art of making shovel-blanks, and by which construction of blank the manufacturer is enabled to reduce the blank to the desired thickness, length, and width for the shovel-blade and handle-straps by the rolling process, the blank passing between the rolls always in the direc tion of the arm marked E. therebyhaving the fiber of the iron or the longitudinal axis of the particles of steel running lengthwise of the shovel-blade and handle-straps without the tendency of drawing the said fiber or said pan scoop, or spade blank of the form shown in Fig. 2, in which the part marked F from the point D to the point C is substantially equal to the width intended for the shovel-blade, as herein de scribed, and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY M. MYERS.

\Vitnesses:

JAMES J. JOHNSTON, WM. V. S. DYR'E. 

